TORONTO — As if the Yankees did not have enough problems on their hands, Clarke Schmidt walked off the mound after three innings and 55 pitches Thursday and never returned.
The announcement that followed was even more ominous — right forearm tightness — and now the fate of the right-hander’s season rests on the results of an MRI exam Friday.
By the end of Thursday night, the Yankees had lost their fourth straight game, 8-5, to get swept out of Rogers Centre by the now first-place Blue Jays.
The Yankees (48-39) headed back to New York for the Subway Series trailing the Blue Jays (49-38) by a game and tied with the Rays for second place in the AL East after losing for the 14th time in their last 20 games.
But that seemed secondary to the concern for Schmidt, who revealed after the game he has been dealing with some version of tightness in his forearm/elbow area for the past three or four weeks — he pinpointed a June 4 start against the Guardians for when it began — before it became too much for him to continue pitching through Thursday.
“Hopefully, I did the right move and pulled [myself] out early enough,” said Schmidt, who always is confident but did not sound overly optimistic. “Anytime you’re getting an MRI on your forearm or whatever the body part is, you’re not feeling happy about it. So I’m praying everything’s going to be clean and minor, but we’ll see what happens.”
The Yankees had not send Schmidt, who has dealt with various injuries throughout his career, for any testing since he began experiencing forearm tightness last month.
George Springer, who hit two long balls, belts the first of his two-run homers in the third inning of the Yankees’ 8-5 loss to the Blue Jays on July 3, 2025.John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
They gave him extra days between starts whenever possible because he was recovering slower. That included pitching on his seventh day after he threw seven no-hit innings while matching his career high with 103 pitches June 21.
The right-hander had Tommy John surgery in 2017 but said he had not dealt with any elbow issues since then — until now.
“Guys are dealing with stuff all the time throughout the year,” Schmidt said when asked about not going for tests before Friday. “So if I was to be like, ‘Oh, I’m extra sore this week, let me pull the chute,’ and not go out there and pitch, I don’t know if I would ever pitch.”
Clarke Schmidt, who exited after three innings with forearm tightness, delivers a pitch during the Yankees’ loss to the Blue Jays.Getty Images
Manager Aaron Boone indicated Schmidt could end up on the injured list even if the MRI only shows something minor, especially with the All-Star break around the corner.
Schmidt’s emergence as a consistent, reliable starter behind Max Fried and Carlos Rodón has been critical in a season in which the Yankees will not get a single pitch from Gerrit Cole and likely will not get one from Luis Gil until August.
They also have Ryan Yarbrough, who had pitched well as a fill-in No. 5 starter, on the injured list with an oblique strain that, as of Tuesday, had not yet allowed him to resume throwing.
A pensive Aaron Judge looks on during the Yankees’ loss to the Blue Jays.AP
The Yankees can get by with four starters into the All-Star break by taking advantage of Monday’s off day, but if Schmidt is not ready to go coming out of it, the options to replace him are slim.
They could recall Allan Winans (who got hit around by the Reds in a spot start last week), move JT Brubaker into the rotation (though he is no longer fully built up after spending the last two weeks in the bullpen) or reach into Triple-A for another starter (the closest top pitching prospect is Cam Schlittler, but he only just got promoted there last month).
There also is the question of whether Schmidt’s injury, depending on the severity, will force the Yankees to add another starting pitcher by the July 31 trade deadline.
Jasson Domínguez, who had four hits, rips a single in the fifth inning of the Yankees’ loss to the Blue Jays.John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
Clayton Beeter reacts after giving up a home run to Addison Barger during the fifth inning of the Yankees’ loss to the Blue Jays.The Canadian Press via AP
“It’s tough,” Aaron Judge said. “He’s one of our best guys, one of our best pitchers. He’s meant so much to our club, especially the run we went on last year. We’re not getting to the World Series without him. I gotta talk to him first, but that’s a tough one.”
First, though, comes Friday’s MRI exam.
“Just pitch to pitch, I didn’t feel 100 percent,” Schmidt said. “I felt like the whole night I was guarding it a little bit. On the breaking balls and stuff, really not ripping them or trying to get a lot behind them. So I felt like I was cutting some things off, and it was obviously reflecting in my stuff. I was just trying to be smart.”
